These drains are one place you won’t get in trouble for painting on the walls (just don’t go over the new stuff). Photos: Marilyn Tuna.
Last weekend, one cop sat and ate his lunch while dozens of artists spray painted Canberra’s concrete infrastructure, mere metres away.
Don’t worry, the story doesn’t have a bad ending.
The police officer was watching a ‘graff jam’ – a planned event for a group of graffiti artists.
Organiser Lindsay Westphal remembers it as one of the standout moments during the Killing of Canberra earlier this month (meaning ‘killing it’ by doing a great job).
One of Canberra’s 31 legal graffiti spots, the Woden drains have been home to ever-evolving displays of street art.
The project’s newest makeover drew together artists from across Australia.
“It was a good, all-round friendly vibe because there were a lot of people who brought their kids down,” Lindsay said.
“That’s how it’s supposed to be – community based.”
But it almost didn’t come to Canberra after plans for initial host Perth, Lindsay’s home city, fell through.
“I had a month-and-a-half to put a new spot together. One of my mates said ‘We’ve got Woden’ … I painted that wall back in 2007, but I’d completely forgotten how big it was.”
The Canberra project, considered the longest legal graffiti site in the Southern Hemisphere, has drawn Australian and international artists.
The Killing of Canberra is also understood to be the first time the drains have been painted end-to-end in one event.
It brought together 83 artists and support crew – most finding out through word-of-mouth and planning over an Instagram group chat.
“I said to everyone, ‘Look, it’s all BYO paint’ … a ‘dark arts’ theme – skulls, grim reapers – in grey scales beside colour graffiti murals,” Lindsay said.
“You spend three months planning it all on paper – I did 21 drafts for how people were lined up next to each other.”
Everyone pitched in $25 to cover the cost of painting over the surface and other preparation work, while a few dropped by on Friday to trim overgrown vegetation.
Once the canvas was clean and ready, artists gathered from about 9 am the next day, eagerly waiting for painting to start.
“The best thing about this wall was having everyone on the same wall [but] people could do whatever they wanted with their painting,” Lindsay said.
“It was a vegan graff jam because there was no beef!”
MLA for Murrumbidgee Fiona Carrick told Region the event brought together the artists’ creative minds for a project that would draw in the wider community.
“I love activity in our area – this is creative activity and I want people to know about it and appreciate it … It’s better than just having a concrete drain.”
Ms Carrick, who also shared photos from the event online, said it brought “a good vibe” to the area.
“We’re lacking in art centres in the south, compared to the north … From my perspective, it was a positive outcome for our community.”
Ms Carrick says the Woden drains, and other southside sites, are an important part of creative life in Canberra. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
She encouraged people to visit the site to see what the artists created.
“It’s a series of colourful graffiti and colourful street art … it just alternates [between different art styles].
“It’s quite extraordinary. We’re quite lucky to have it.”
In coming months, the results of the Killing of Canberra event will be compiled in a photobook to give participants a permanent record of their work.
“[After an event], you go back to your life,” Lindsay said.
“The plumber goes back to plumbing and I go back to house painting. Everyone goes back to what they do.”
Of course, that’s until the next event in Tasmania in 2026.
The Woden drains are located along Callam Street. Find out more about the site and Canberra’s other legal graffiti spots on the City Services’ website.
